Smaby, Matt

The Tampa Bay Lightning are reporting via Twitter that the Bolts have resigned restricted free agent defenseman Matt Smaby to a one-way, two-year contract avoiding a scheduled salary arbitration hearing next week. The team reports the contract pays Smaby $500k the first year, and 550k the second year. After starting the 2008-09 season in Norfolk, Smaby was recalled to Tampa amidst a rash of blueline injuries, playing the final 43 games of the NHL season recording 4 assists and 50 penalty minutes. Smaby has played a total of 149 AHL games with the Norfolk Admirals and Springfield Falcons accumulating 5 goals and 13 assists along with 139 penalty minutes.

Smaby, 24, was a 2nd round pick by the Lightning in the 2003 NHL entry draft out of Shattucks-St. Mary's high school in Minnesota before playing three years for the University of North Dakota Fightning Sioux where he captained the team to an NCAA Championship Finals appearance against the University of Denver. He was signed by Tampa on April 14, 2006 to a three-year entry level contract.

Tonight is a pretty special night for the staff here at Bolt Prospects. Tonight marked the 41st decision of the NHL career of Karri Ramo. It was also the 41st game of the season for Matt Smaby. Both are milestones for graduation from prospect status here at Bolt Prospects. Both young men are now considered NHLers in our eyes.

It's somewhat fitting that these two players should graduate on the same night. There have only been four players who have ever held the title of top rated prospect on this site. Smaby was the first when we debuted the rankings at the start of the 2005-2006 season. He held the title shortly for half a season before giving way to his teammate Ramo, who was standing on his head as a rookie for Springfield in the AHL. Ramo held the top spot before giving way to top draft pick Steven Stamkos, who graduated from prospect status earlier this season. Steve Downie earned the top spot in our Midterm Rankings shortly after Stamkos' graduation.

This team could be incredible if Lawton could find some defense without blowing up some other part of the team.

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Karri Ramo allowed 5 goals on 30 shots for the loss. Despite allowing 5 goals, he actually didn't play all that badly. Two of Pittsburgh's goals came on breakaways and a third came on an uncovered player allowed to move in on Ramo all alone down the slot. The game winning goal was a case where Ramo was clearly interfered with after stopping the initial shot on the breakaway. Another goal came on a feed that went through the box on the PP down low to give Sid Crosby a clean look on Ramo moving laterally. Other than Cooke's goal to start the third period, which wasn't a bad goal so much as an untimely one, there's nothing I would fault Karri with. The decision is the 41st of Ramo's career, graduating him from prospect status here at BP.

I give credit to the coaches and the players that no one laid down in the third period. It would've been damned easy to quit, but the Lightning came back and really gave the Pens a run for their money. They were one missed goaltender interference call away from getting to overtime. So, the heart is there, and for the most part the offensive potential is there. What's really lacking right now is two things: defense and penalty killing. The defense will get better by virtue of a healthy Andrej Meszaros and Paul Ranger. The penalty killing can't possibly get any worse. I don't know the stats, but the PK has been absolutely rancid the second half of this season.

Ryan Malone broke his hand blocking a shot in this game, making him the fifth key Lightning player to be shelved with a serious injury. He had already proven that last year wasn't a flash in the pan by potting his 26th goal. I give him credit. He's won me over. The injury may open up an opportunity for someone from Norfolk to get a two game cup of coffee. Blair Jones?Justin Keller?Juraj Simek?

Lets go Avs.

Noah Welch had 4 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 16:13 against the organization who drafted him.

Zenon Konopka was -1 with 2 hits in 9:58 and was 60% on draws. 9:58? Seemed like a lot more, in a good way. There are games where Konopka is nothing more than a circus clown, and then there are games like tonight where he plays hockey and he's a difference maker. He was a split second away from landing a shoulder-to-chin hit on Matt Cooke that would've made him a hero in Tampa Bay forever, and he about chewed the ends off the boards on the forecheck. Very well done.

Matt Smaby was +1 with 1 shot, 3 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 22:56. Tonight was Smaby's 41st game of the season, meaning he joins Ramo as a freshly minted Bolt Prospects Alumni.

David Koci had 3 hits and 17 penalty minutes in 6:00 of ice time. His fight against Eric Godard seemed like the emotional tipping point of this game. Again, very well done.

Paul Szczechura had 1 goal, 1 assist, and was +2 with 2 penalty minutes, and 4 shots in 16:00. He also was 33% on draws. I don't know what it is about Pittsburgh, but when Szczechura sees that jersey he seems to duck into the nearest phone booth and turn into Superman. I still don't think Szczechura is in his best shape, but he was flying tonight. That's the best game he's played in months, and the kind of game he needs to get on tape if he wants to make the team next season.

Mike McKenna allowed 3 goals on 21 shots for the loss. That might've been his worst game as a member of the Lightning. Each of the Islanders' first two goals are ones Mike probably would like back and he made another big puck handling error that he managed to get away with. He's got one more start scheduled this season, and that's probably a good thing. You'd hate to go out like that after a pretty successful year.

Noah Welch had 3 hits and 3 blocked shots in 19:04. He's been decent the past two games, which is shocking considering how poorly he'd previously played.

Zenon Konopka had a fight, 1 shot, 1 hit, and was 67% on draws in 7:42. He earned his game check.

Matt Smaby was beastly with 2 penalty minutes, 2 shots, 7 hits, and 3 blocked shots in 22:22. He's been so much better since taking a game off to nurse his foot injury. Graduation Tuesday. Bring your digital cap and gown.

David Koci had 15 penalty minutes in 6:34. Former Lightning farm hand Mitch Fritz threw him around like a rag doll.

Paul Szczechura was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 2 shots, and 1 blocked shot in 15:33. He was also 38% on draws.

Martins Karsums had 1 assist and was -1 with 6 penalty minutes, 2 shots, 4 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 12:02. Like Welch, he's playing better in these past two games.

Matt Lashoff was -1 with 3 shots, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 27:17. He lost a couple of physical battles that resulted in one puck going in the net and one being rung off the post. He didn't do his younger pairing partner any favors.

Vladimir Mihalik was -1 with 1 shot in 13:05 paired primarily with Lashoff. I thought this was his best NHL game thus far, but that may not be saying much. He looked more confident, but he's still a little slow to react to the play. The guy's a mountain and he had 0 hits. That's still a problem. I was, admittedly, surprised he got the call over Ty Wishart or Kevin Quick.

Karri Ramo allowed 5 goals on 39 shots for the overtime loss. Really, it was a tale of two games for Karri. He was playing very well through the first 32 minutes or so of the game, and then he made an incredibly stupid decision to throw his stick that resulted in a penalty shot and the wheels started to fall off a little. About two minutes later Karri, who I think was a little rattled and out of focus, didn't come out and challenge a shot from a rush coming down the wing and got beat glove side and suddenly the Lightning went from being solidly in control to being in a dog fight. The lesson is an important one: in regular season hockey, one mistake generally doesn't kill you. It's when you allow yourself to lose focus and things start to snowball that you lose hockey games. Karri was screened on New Jersey's third goal and hung out to dry on a bad line change on the game winner. He might want the rebound back on Jersey's fourth goal, but that wasn't egregious to me. But it was that one lull in focus that probably cost the Lightning a second point. Tonight was Karri's 40th NHL decision, so he will graduate from BP prospect status with his next one, but there's still much for the 22 year old to learn.

It wasn't exactly a banner night in the goaltending or the defensive department, but there were some positives to point to up front. Steven Stamkos tied Brad Richards' Lightning rookie record for goals at 21. That record's good as gone.

Ryan Malone scored his 26th of the season, which is pretty remarkable considering how lost he looked with injuries early in the year. I confess, I wasn't a big proponent of the Malone deal in the offseason, because he didn't have a proven track record that merited handing him that much money. Well, now he's got a track record. He's one goal shy of matching last year's 27 goals and one would think with some health and some stability behind the bench, 30-35 goals should be within his reach next year. People have been comparing Ryan to Fredrik Modin, and I don't think the comparison is really that apt. Freddy was better along the wall and was far more of a sniper. Ryan isn't as good as he could be along the wall at his size and is more of a garbage man, although he has surprisingly good hands in open ice as evidence by his de-jocking on Brodeur on the breakaway tonight. In some ways, he's kind of the answer to the question, "What if Dave Andreychuk could skate?"

Noah Welch was +2 with 3 hits in 19:44. I can't believe I just typed that either.

Matt Smaby was -2 with 2 penalty minutes, 4 hits, and 3 blocked shots in 26:00. One of those minuses came on that bad change in overtime. Smaby is now 2 games away from graduation here at BP. Considering Tocchet's been rotating Ramo and McKenna, that means there may be a double graduation coming up Tuesday against the Penguins.

Paul Szczechura was +1 with 1 blocked shot and was 38% on draws in 14:33. I thought he came out flying in the first period, but faded as the game went on. Maybe it was conditioning?

Martins Karsums can say he scored his first NHL goal on Martin Brodeur. How cool is that? He had 1 shot and 1 hit in 12:54. He also picked off a pass in the neutral zone and nearly generated a nice scoring chance for himself earlier in the game. He was better tonight than most every game thus far in a Lightning jersey.

Matt Lashoff dispenses PP assists like a Pez dispenser. He also had 1 shot and 2 blocked shots in a team high 27:40 tonight. He's got 7 assists in 9 games in a Lightning uniform. There ain't nothing wrong with that kind of production.

Mike McKenna allowed 3 goals on 39 shots in the loss. He rebounded from a couple of puck handling errors and was otherwise very solid. The Lightning have a tough decision to make with McKenna. Ordinarily, you would want a veteran #3 goaltender like McKenna in your organization. But, it will be very tough for the Lightning to send Riku Helenius or Dustin Tokarski down to the Coast if they do re-sign McKenna.

Matt Lashoff had 1 assist and was +1 with 3 shots and 2 hits in 21:41. There were one or two plays tonight where Lashoff made plays that are hopefully indicative of the way his game is going to evolve next season: playing the proper angle defensively and then cancelling out the opposing forward physically. I'm just guessing he had a little extra juice playing against his old organization, but if he can do that consistently, he's going to be a stud defenseman in this league. The offense is there (6 assists in 8 games so far with the Lightning). If his defensive game rounds out, he's going to be every bit as good as Paul Ranger and Andrej Meszaros.

Karri Ramo allowed 3 goals on 29 shots for the loss. Ottawa's first goal was a short side shot you could fault him for, but otherwise he was solid. He got no offensive support and the refs decided to throw the shaft in at the end to wreck his stats by giving Ottawa a freebee 5-on-3.

Ottawa took a string of penalties early in the Second Period that were a hand engraved invitation to get back in the game that the Lightning refused to RSVP. At even strength, the Lightning just couldn't get in behind the Ottawa defense to get any forecheck generated. That's a big part of why they only had an anemic 17 hits on the game.

Matt Lashoff was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, and 3 blocked shots in 22:49. He scored a beautiful goal banking a puck in off of the back of the goaltender's pads. Unfortunately, that goalie was Karri Ramo.

The Lightning's penalty kill has been absolutely attrocious in the second half of the season. I suppose it's a combination of losing their most mobile defensemen on the backline and losing Smitty. Still, one thing I'd like to see next season is Tocchet giving Stamkos some PK time. He skates so well, I think he'll quite a bit of pressure on the opposing point men.

Noah Welch was -1 with 1 shot and 1 hit in 8:44. His ice time in a game where one of the other d-men went out injured speaks volumes about what the coaching staff thinks of him. I think that of him too.

Matt Smaby had 2 penalty minutes, 2 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 8:01. He left the game after suffering a "lower body injury." The young man's been playing on a bad wheel for quite some time. Hopefully he'll get back quickly. He's just 4 games from graduating from prospect status here on BP.

David Koci had 2 penalty minutes, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 5:35. No shots, no kills.

Richard Petiot managed, somehow, to land the big +3 with 1 hit and 1 blocked shot in 21:49.

Matt Lashoff got his first even strength assist, 4 penalty minutes, 3 shots, and 2 blocked shots in 24:01. I'd like to see him take better angles in his own end. I think it would keep him from taking so many minor penalties.

Karri Ramo allowed 3 goals on 36 shots for the overtime loss. The 13 save second period he put on was the kind of mind-bending play that he used to display regularly as a rookie with Springfield in the AHL a couple of seasons back. Can you critique the goals he allowed? Sure. His mechanics were awkward on Montreal's first goal and he was completely out of his sorts on the Latendresse wraparaound goal. That said, the Lightning would've lost this game 7-2 easily without Ramo's play tonight. It wasn't just the saves: it was deflection save after deflection save. The athleticism is absolutely undeniable, and if you project Karri to, say, Mike Smith's age, you start to understand why the Lightning have so much hope tied up in the young man. He has gotten points in each of his last six starts, which is somewhat phenomenal given the defensive corps (corpse may be more accurate) assembled in front of him.

The first 40 minutes of this game were, other than Ramo, an embarassment for the Lightning. Were it not for the fact that the team has to play in Washington tomorrow night, a bag skate might still be in order, whether they stole a point late or not.